Life Wasn't Fair
by Celestial Starlet
Summary: Contains spoilers for SPECIALS by Scott Westerfeld. David thinks about how life is unfair for himself and Tally.


**Author's Note:** It's been so long since I've posted a story. D: How sad! Anyway, school's out now, so I'll be working on more stories (Hopefully). I should be making semi-regular updates on my profile now, so check in occasionally. Anyway, I'm aware that Tally seems a bit OOC. However, this is how I see her in the wild. I hope you enjoy the one-shot, and please forgive me for giving it such a bad title.

**CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR **_**SPECIALS**_

Life wasn't fair, David thought grumpily. First he lost his home, then his father, and worst of all, he lost Tally's love for him.

Tally. He fell for her ever since he first saw her, and he would never stop loving her. Regardless of her being an 'ugly,' 'pretty,' or 'special,' Tally was just Tally. Nothing could ever change that. Whenever he mentioned this to her, she said something about five million years of evolution. David furrowed his eyebrows. He still had no idea what she meant.

David glanced over at Tally. She was asleep in her sleeping bag, shaking. Another nightmare. Suddenly, David was overwhelmed to just go over there and hold her, but the last time he did that, she hit him. It didn't help matters that they had gone to bed without apologizing. Tally had banished David to the corner of the woods, and he was forced to sleep away from the fire and away from Tally. All David had said was that Zane was dead, and that it wasn't Tally's fault. David cringed.

Tally loved Zane more than David loved her, and that was saying something. It was no wonder that the subject was still sore for her. Zane was a lucky guy. To have someone like Tally love him like she did… A bitter laugh escaped David's lips. Well, okay, he wasn't _that _lucky. After all, nanos ate his brain, and then he died. But still, Tally loved him, and for that David would forever envy Zane.

Tally let out a shuddering gasp. David couldn't bear to look at her when she was experiencing her nightmares. He couldn't even muster up the courage to talk about them to Tally. However, he knew very well what they were about- Zane. It must have been awful, seeing Zane hooked up to machines, hardly alive.

"No…" Despite his better judgment, David looked over at Tally. She was crying, shaking, and now talking in her hysteria, all while she was asleep. Even though her hair was stuck to her cheeks by her tears, Tally was still the most beautiful creature David ever saw. Even though she was a Special, Tally cried, which proved that she was rewiring herself. Guilt bore down on her soul, which was more proof, but David would rather her not feel hat one particular emotion.

"Don't leave me!" The sudden outburst shook David from his thoughts, and he longed for Tally stop having the awful nightmares. Again, the words_ life isn't fair _crossed David's mind. It wasn't fair for David, but it especially not fair for Tally. All her life, she had been constantly rewired, on the wrong side, hurt; all without her own say in the matter. Now she was alone in the wild, without Zane or her friends. All she had was David and her will to fight the entire world if they went too far into the wild. That wasn't much. However, Tally had said freedom had a way of destroying things.

"I love you!" Here, David winced. All of the old Specials could claw at him with their fingernails, he could be hit with his own shock-stick, or maybe even have his entire body replaced with new skin; nothing hurt worse than hearing those words. Tally was still shaking, still crying, and David was still in the corner of the woods. His father was still dead, along with Zane, and David still loved Tally more than anything. Nothing could change the latter, but maybe David could change the rest.

David started to go over to Tally, but she murmured, "David." He looked over at her, frozen in his tracks. He didn't want Tally to yell at him for coming over to her, which would just upset her more. However, she was still asleep. Quietly, David walked over to where Tally was, making sure he was didn't wake her up, and he took her hand into his own. Then, she said it again. "I love you…"

David smiled sadly down at Tally. "Zane's dead, Tally," David said softly. He started to stroke her hair out of her face, and he noticed that she had stopped crying.

He sat down between her and the fire, warming himself, when Tally finally answered, "I wasn't talking to Zane."

David closed his eyes, not saying anything. He gathered Tally into his arms, all the while thinking, _maybe life isn't so unfair._


End file.
